A woman who is being sued by her son's elementary school teacher for allegedly injuring the woman while shaking her hand has denied the claims and filed a countersuit against the "frivolous lawsuit."
According to court documents, the woman visited the Granite School District teacher in her classroom for a parent-teacher conference. The teacher extended her hand and the woman shook it, but denies she "clenched (it) tightly with unreasonable force," as the teacher's lawsuit indicates.
The teacher did not make reference to an injured hand at any time during the five-minute meeting, court documents state, and continued to use her hand to point, write, and hold and move papers.
In her original suit, filed earlier this month, the teacher claims the handshake caused contusions to her wrist, thumb and hand, and forced her to wear a hand brace. She claims she was forced to miss work and withdraw from a course at the University of Utah. The teacher requests $3,000 for medical expenses, an undetermined amount for lost-wage compensation, $10,000 for pain and suffering, $10,000 for the teacher's "permanent injury" and $250,000 in damages.
In her countersuit, the woman requests an unspecified amount for damages and attorneys fees, as well as punitive damages for the teacher's "willful and malicious conduct" in bringing the original lawsuit.